Bronco_Beerslug
11-01-2004, 08:11 PM
Should be a beautiful site in another 10 years to drive through the gas wells of Colorado.
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US to Release Draft Colo. Natural Gas Drilling Plan
DENVER (Reuters) - The U.S. government expects to release a draft management plan next week that will detail its plan for natural gas drilling in an environmentally sensitive area in western Colorado known as the Roan Plateau.
The Bush administration has marked the Rocky Mountains as an area where it wants to see more oil and gas development to lessen domestic reliance on imported energy, but environmental groups have been fighting the plans in a number of Western states.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (news - web sites) anticipates its draft management plan for the area to be released the week of Nov 8., Duane Spencer, Bureau of Land Management branch chief of fluid minerals, said on Friday. The public will then have an opportunity to comment on the report.
Controversy over drilling at the top of the plateau arose because a conservation group has concluded that the BLM is overestimating natural gas reserves. Natural gas drilling is currently being conducted at the base of the plateau, but the question is whether it should be expanded to the top.
The Wilderness Society said its scientists reviewed data from the most recent U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) done in 2002 that estimated reserves under one-half trillion cubic feet. The BLM estimates reserves at a far different 15.4 trillion cubic feet.
The BLM is sticking with its figures. "They used the USGS (news - web sites) geologic survey data, but we went a couple steps beyond that. We looked at a lot of site-specific reservoir data," Spencer said.
The site-specific data came from wells that are producing in the area, he said. Spencer said original figures indicated one well would drain natural gas in an area of 160 acres, but now about 16 wells could be producing in the 160-acre area.
"You're seeing 160 acres previously analyzed for one billion cubic feet of gas, but now we expect 16 billion cubic feet of gas," he said.
The Wilderness Society is concerned about the impact drilling will have on the area popular with hikers, fishermen, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts.
"Once you begin to do drilling you take along a new network of roads and a new network of pipelines," Steve Smith, assistant regional director for the Wilderness Society said. "You're just fragmenting the habitat more and more," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=570&e=1&u=/nm/20041101/sc_nm/environment_colorado_naturalgas_dc_1
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US to Release Draft Colo. Natural Gas Drilling Plan
DENVER (Reuters) - The U.S. government expects to release a draft management plan next week that will detail its plan for natural gas drilling in an environmentally sensitive area in western Colorado known as the Roan Plateau.
The Bush administration has marked the Rocky Mountains as an area where it wants to see more oil and gas development to lessen domestic reliance on imported energy, but environmental groups have been fighting the plans in a number of Western states.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (news - web sites) anticipates its draft management plan for the area to be released the week of Nov 8., Duane Spencer, Bureau of Land Management branch chief of fluid minerals, said on Friday. The public will then have an opportunity to comment on the report.
Controversy over drilling at the top of the plateau arose because a conservation group has concluded that the BLM is overestimating natural gas reserves. Natural gas drilling is currently being conducted at the base of the plateau, but the question is whether it should be expanded to the top.
The Wilderness Society said its scientists reviewed data from the most recent U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) done in 2002 that estimated reserves under one-half trillion cubic feet. The BLM estimates reserves at a far different 15.4 trillion cubic feet.
The BLM is sticking with its figures. "They used the USGS (news - web sites) geologic survey data, but we went a couple steps beyond that. We looked at a lot of site-specific reservoir data," Spencer said.
The site-specific data came from wells that are producing in the area, he said. Spencer said original figures indicated one well would drain natural gas in an area of 160 acres, but now about 16 wells could be producing in the 160-acre area.
"You're seeing 160 acres previously analyzed for one billion cubic feet of gas, but now we expect 16 billion cubic feet of gas," he said.
The Wilderness Society is concerned about the impact drilling will have on the area popular with hikers, fishermen, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts.
"Once you begin to do drilling you take along a new network of roads and a new network of pipelines," Steve Smith, assistant regional director for the Wilderness Society said. "You're just fragmenting the habitat more and more," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=570&e=1&u=/nm/20041101/sc_nm/environment_colorado_naturalgas_dc_1